'A gentle stroll' was how the walk leaflet described today's section of the walk. I wouldn't go that far as we still had to carry our packs even though pretty much all of the food had been consumed. The track crossed wetlands (on boardwalks), more mainly beech forest and eventually returned to the shores of Lake Te Anau. As we got closer to civilization we started meeting people just out for the day coming in the opposite direction. A typical response from Heather was "Hah, day walkers, she didn't even have a bag". The weather report for the day said that a 'complex trough' was currently over the region. We weren't sure what it meant, but interpreted it as 'anyone's guess'. This turned out to be about right as we set off in sunshine, had a bit of drizzle as we reached the lake and then I got soaked walking 100m down the road to the shop later in the day! At least we'd walked the entire 70km without proper rain & didn't have wet gear to dry out. We both really enjoyed the walk despite the (icy) cold water in the huts and vicious sandflys. The distance covered each day was enough to be satisfying but didn't leave us feeling the effects too much after a good sleep. Although when we got back, just washing my hands in hot water felt good and the first shower in 3 days absolutely amazing. I think we were ready to come out of the bush. Remaing food was as follows:
Weetabix - 0 Teabags - 4 Bread - 0 Ryvita - 1 box Dried milk - trace amounts Soup - 2 packets Pasta 'n' sauce - 0 packets Risotto - 0 packets Instant noodles - 0 packets Tuna - 0 packets Swiss roll - 0 Honey - some Muesli bars - 2 Nut mix - some Dried apricots - 0 Scroggin mix - some Yogurts - 0 Apples - 0 Philadelphia cheese - some Dried peas and sweetcorn - 0 packets (tasted better than expected!)
